Such a lucky coincidence that KAK's "lifelong dream" fell smack dab in the middle of CTC's NYC obligations.
The negative press was overwhelming: slash-and-burn attacks for leaping on a sofa, jabbing a finger at NBC's "Today Show" host Matt Lauer, blasting antidepressants -- and even for marrying a woman several years his junior. It was enough to put anyone's career in a tailspin -- and it would certainly have done that with any less a figure than Tom Cruise.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/film/e3iefdf9c6b642b692d92c9bc2626a11991
In the avalanche of criticism that Cruise has endured recently -- beginning with the "Oprah" leap and culminating in a duel of words with Viacom's Sumner Redstone -- something has been lost: That Tom Cruise is one of our great stars, the only actor of his generation whose appeal has endured over two decades, who has been able to mold himself into an astonishing variety of roles despite his "star" persona, from the cute and cuddly boy-next-door of 1983's "Risky Business" to the cocky pilot of 1986's "Top Gun" to the embittered war veteran of 1989's "Born on the Fourth of July" to the smooth-talking but desperate agent of 1996's "Jerry Maguire" to the ice-cold assassin of 2004's "Collateral."
It's a remarkable body of work, from action to comedy, from the contemporary to the period piece. Now that this work is being recognized by the Museum of the Moving Image as it honors Cruise with its 23rd annual black-tie salute Tuesday, adding him to the ranks of Sidney Poitier, Robert De Niro and Steven Spielberg, it's high time to recognize just what Cruise does so well.
